Pacific University Dance Artistic Team

The Dance program includes some of the finest artists in their field pursuing and living their passion in choreographing, lighting, and costume. Through their dedication to the art form our artistic team collaborates to complete the dance works in hope that they will inspire, express, and move our audiences— lighting design/set design captures the dancers and story of the work, costume design and construction further deepens the theme of the work and the dancers lines, and the choreographer creates a living moving landscape that can tell a story or abstract the essence of an idea. Below is our 2018-2019 artistic team.

Fall 2019

LeAnn Anderson is a native of Los Angeles, CA. LeAnne started dancing at the age of 3 and the dream of someday having her own studio soon followed. She eventually moved to Portland, OR to raise a family and started Body and Soul Creative Dance in 1990. LeAnne teaches levels of dance ranging from recreational to competitive. Her dancers have received scholarships all around the country and many have become active professionals in the dance industry. Her specialties are Lyrical Jazz, Jazz, and Variety Arts. Anderson will choreography will showcase a solo Turn Your Face performed by PDE company member Megan Lem.

Taylor Baker is a performer, choreographer, teacher, and arts advocate. Originally from Seattle, she graduated with her BA in Dance from Pacific University. Baker currently works as a freelance artist as well as teaches and choreographs at various dance studios in the Portland-area, working with young dancers ranging from ages 3-18 in contemporary, jazz, hip hop, improvisation, and student choreography. She has presented her work at Pacific University, the American College Dance Association (ACDA) Northwest, Polaris Dance Theatre, and at various dance competitions in the state of Oregon and Washington. Taylor is especially passionate about mentoring and sharing her love of movement with others, and finds joy in helping guide young artists who want to pursue dance as a career and help them discover their own creative voices. She also discovered a love and passion for the creative process, contemporary dance, and improvisation during her time as a student and uses this knowledge to instill a deep love and appreciation for dance in young dancers.

Spring 2020

Victoria Perez is a graduate from Pacific University with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and currently is a freelance performer, choreographer, dance educator in the Northwest. Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Victoria fell in love with contemporary dance at a young age after having the opportunity to work with Joe Alegadro, Ashley Lopez, and Hannah Brightwell. Most recently in 2019 Perez received the honor to present her work in New York at the Emerging Choreographers Festival and the American College Dance Association at the University of Utah. While studying under the direction of Jennifer Camp at Pacific, she has begun to explore her passion for choreographing and learning the roles of a Director of a dance department. As a member of the Pacific Dance Ensemble, Perez shined as a mentor to her peers, a company lead dancer and soloist working closely with guest artists including Trevor Wilde, Shaun Keylock, and Aaron Gilbert. She is thrilled to be sharing her passion of dance with the talented young aspiring dancers.

Jennifer Camp is an Associate Professor of dance and has directed the dance program since 2003. She currently teaches Ballet, Pointe, and Contemporary, Choreography, Anatomy and Kinesiology for Dancers, and Injury Prevention and Conditioning for dancers. She is recognized as a dynamically diverse performer, encouraging educator, and innovative choreographer, and has more than 25 years of professional experience in the field.

Tal Sanders is an award-winning designer with numerous national credits. He has designed for nearly every venue in the Portland Metro area, and has been awarded the Drammy Award for his designs on several occasions. Tal is also a seven-time winner of the Santa Barbara critics’ Independent Theatre Award. He is a member of the United Scenic Artists, and has designed lighting and scenery for many aspects of entertainment including: theatre, film, television, theme parks, concert stages, cruise ships, mall décor, and zoos. He holds an MFA in design from California Institute of the Arts.

Melissa Heller is the Resident Costume Designer for Pacific University Department of Theatre & Dance.​ She also Resident at Bag&Baggage Productions and has designed costumes for various theatre companies around the Portland metro area for 8 years.